Turkey Dinner?

Well it's time to get some Turkey, or at least visit it. With the upcoming one week holiday we have decided that Istanbul (once Constantinople) will be our destination. I think we got a crappy deal, but would still kill anything we would get in the states. Two roundtrip flights (+ one baby) and 6 days in a hotel for around $1600. Not too bad huh?

So in the process of researching the trip I had this great idea to send out cards to my peeps saying "I've just made you a millionaire from my riches made in the Middle East" and a 1 Million Lyra note inside. But now I have discovered that as of January 2006 they have dropped 6 zeros from their notes. Plan destroyed. Bastards!

Lastly we missed out on Thanksgiving Day, but we will get all the Turkey we need. Hopefully it doesn't make us as sleepy as it does in the states.

MBP dead again.

So for the third time since getting my new 15" MacBook Pro I have
 sent the damn thing off for repair.  Again I had a failed HDD, and 
again I lost data.  I take backups, but I'm not religous about it.  I 
mean, who would think that a new HDD would die within 3 weeks?

Sigh

So I'm using KDE+FreeBSD for my desktop while I wait for the god awfully slow Apple service to come and fix my laptop.  

So why do I have all these failures with that MBP?  I suspect that it maybe a heat issue or bad grounding.  At home we pile our MacBooks on top of each other like a little naughty horizontal Apple dance.  Since my MBP loves to absorb heat maybe running Mariko's on top just produced too much heat and zapped it.  I don't know if this has been the cause for all 3 HDD failures, but I think it is for at least this one.

Trying to update this blog

 Hello All,

I'm in the process of trying to get Journlr working with HideTheSalami, and it seems to be giving me trouble.  Once I get it working I will be actually updating this blog for once.  I have all sorts of stuff to say, but until I get Journlr working with Salami I don't know how frequently I will be updating.  This needs to be easy I say!

Thanks,
Will the Infidel

Plugged up to HELL!

Supposedly you can get any electronic item your heart desires here, for only about 10% more than the states. Of course that cost doesn't include the equipment needed to actually use it. First off UAE is on 220V/240V (I don't actually know which it is...), and most gear from the states is on 110V/120V. So means I need a converter to get over. A 100W converter costs about 100DHS ($1 = 3.67DHS) and the plug converter is about 12DHS. So as an example, our US made baby monitor plugs into the transformer/converter which plugs into the plug converter and then into the wall.
Sorry for the bad formatting above... But the part that kills me, is that nearly everything electronic comes in the European plug format versus the above 3 rectangular plugs (UK Style). Why not just either change the wall sockets or change the cables coming out of the appliances?

Anyhow, it's just annoying trying to plug anything in even without the sometimes needed transformer.

The dating scene

So last night I was in one of the MANY malls in Dubai (Deira City Centre I think) and someone brought up the "Underground Dating Scene." My vast understanding of the Islamic culture gathered over the past 2 weeks tells me that a young unmarried woman should have no interactions with men that they are not related to.

So the new fancy way for young ladies to meet guys is as follows:
1) Carry a folded piece of paper containing your cell number between your fingers (so as to make it slighly visable).
2) Make eye contact with some hot young person.
3) Casually drop your slip of paper (digits included) on a handrail, ashtray, or some such for the other person to pick up.
4) Secret text messages and phone calls ensue.

I think the amazing part is how key a roll the cellphone plays in this underground dating.

First ever blog post!

Hello All! I've decided to create a blog at the insistence of others to document my time overseas (Sharjah, UAE), and to a lesser extent my personal thoughts.

I'm sure you will all see how crazy I am after a few weeks of reading, and eventually my traffic will die out. To ensure this doesn't happen TOO quickly, I will occasionally post cute pictures of my family to keep the ladies coming back for more!

Have a great day!